Sam turns 5!

We had a fun birthday celebration for Sam. He's been long awaiting his birthday ever since James and Chloe had their birthdays a few months ago. His special day landed on a Sunday and he decided to save his party for a Family Night party with family.
So I dressed him and James up in their tuxes for church and he (we'll all of us) cute! :)



Monday was a fun day. I made him a train birthday shirt. Trying to get him to stay still long enough for a picture was quite a task.





Then my SIL, Cindy and her boys came and picked Sam and James up to have lunch and play at McDonald's. They had a blast. While they were gone I got to working on his cake. My mom usually makes AMAZING cakes for everyone for their birthdays, but since she's a few 1,000 miles away, I tried my best to make a train cake. Thank goodness he has a great imagination!
Sam felt like 6 o'clock would never come. He knew that was when his party would start and he would get to open his presents.
As soon as everyone showed up we did presents first, then dinner, then cake. Sam scored a train whistle from Cindy, sugar cookies with frosting (his favorite) from Joy, a wooden track train signal from James and Chloe, and a Christmas Train set from us and his Grandparents.







This was the first year he got sent on a treasure hunt and he was so excited. It was fun to see him run around the house with is cousins looking for clues to find his gift.



The rest of the night was spent eating yummy nachos his favorite), cake, playing video games, and trying to figure out how to set up his train....
and the next morning was spent alternating between train sets! What a great life!


Sam, at 5-
you STILL love trains best of all
you love to quote movies and can quote like 10 minutes of them at a time
you love hockey and now are in a class
you don't love sitting at church, but you are trying your best
you love your primary teachers and are trying to adjust to them being released
you gave your first talk in primary about being reverent
you are a great brother to James and Chloe
you are great at doing favors for Mom and are a great big helper
you do great at school with Mom as your teacher
you know all of your letters and sounds and can read some words
you can do basic math problems with objects
you say your own great prayers
you love to wear jammies and would wear them 24/7 if I let you
you love to run where ever you are going, you don't do anything slowly
your favorite foods are McDonald's chicken nuggets, nachos, dad chips(Sun Chips), cookies with frosting(pink is your favorite)
your favorite drinks are pink drink, orange drink, fruit punch, and lemonade
your favorite colors are red and blue
you just discovered the world of video games and have fun learning to play them, your favorites are cow racing, people mathcing and honkey donkey (donkey kong)

Will the Real Slimy Shady Please Stand Up

Seth's company always puts on a great party. This year they had their Christmas party at the Utah Museum of Natural History. I hadn't been there yet, so I was excited to go.
It was a fun night to hang out with his co-workers and their wives. We wandered the Museum and tasted all the great eats. At the end they had kareoke. Seth and his good buddy, Spencer, got up an rapped together. I couldn't believe it!
Seth was of course very funny. I thought I would die from laughter. My stomach hurt so much and I was crying from laughing so hard.
It was a fun night I will never forget! :)

Paper Snowflakes

I decided to brave it and let my kids use scissors and cut up as much paper as they wanted.....
We had a great time making snowflakes. Sam wasn't too impressed, but Chloe knew this was an opportunity to use "big kid" things and was determined to make the experience last as long as possible.
James did very well. He got the concept and wanted to produce beautiful snowflakes. I was impressed with how little he was able to cute those pieces of paper! :)
Let's just say that today I was most thankful for a great vacuum.

Chloe our Snow Bunny

Chloe finally got to play in her first snow. To say she LOVED it is an understatement. She had so much fun and seemed to know just what to do. She even lost her gloves at one point and didn't care that the snow was freezing her hands. And when I went to get her to come in she was missing a boot. Good thing she still had on her super thick jammie footies.
They played snowball fights, wagon rides, relaxed on the bench, went for a swing, teeter-tottered, went on the snowy slide....it was a winter wonderland!
I am glad we finally got some snow. It just wasn't feeling like Christmas. It was like being in California. California is great and I had many a wonderful Christmases there, but now that I know how beautiful and cozy a white Christmas can be I long for it.
Here's to hoping we get a beautiful white Christmas with hours of outdoor fun in the snow!

Meet Peter Pan, our Elf

So, I am a sucker for cheap and home-made, so I could never bring myself to buy "The Elf on the Shelf" book and doll. I love the concept and poem, just not the illustrations or doll...cute, but not me.
So, "Mrs. Claus" finally made one for us using wool felt, craft glue, wire, and a sharpie. She's been thinking about it for a while, but not sure how to make him or how to present the "book". Then the inspiration came...
Santa sent my boys a package Wednesday morning with a letter, the poem (abbreviated version), and the elf. The elf was small so he could fit in the package. My kids were so excited. They named him "Peter Pan" and have been loving looking for him each day. He even moves during the day sometimes just to trick them even more!




Here he is checking out our tree...

Gettin' comfy in the stockings...

Hanging from the curtain rod...

Reading a good book...

Sneaking some hot chocolate...

Signs of an Amazing Babysitter

We had my niece, Madi come babysit for us the first time and she was great. My kids were actually already asleep, which I felt bad for, but she showed up with a bag full of books, toys she thought they'd like, snacks....
And when we came home we found that she just didn't sit and turn on the TV because the kids were asleep. I usually try to leave my house clean for the babysitter so they can focus on the kids. But she still found some things to do. She hand washed the dishes that were in the sink, lined up the toys that were left out on the train table and folded a little blanket that had been tucked away in the corner.
What class! I have found few, if any babysitters who do all of this. When I was growing up it was known to do all of this...show up with a babysitter bag, clean the house....and when a couple went to the temple there was never a charge.
I am so grateful to my brother and SIL for their example of how they raise their daughter!

Festival of Trees

We had a great time (as always) at the Festival of Trees. It is such an amazing fundraiser. It makes me happy to see all the hard work, the gorgeous donations, the thousands of volunteers, and the talent.....and 100% of it goes to Primary Children's. Even though there are sad stories that drive a lot of what goes on there it is a powerful feeling to see all those involved and affected take their challenges and struggles and use them as motivators. I hope to be able to donate a tree next year and participate even further in this event.
Here are some of our favorites this year: (the "Up" tree and gingerbread house and the "Tangled" gingerbread house were definitely the most fantastic)









Sam was our train spotter. He would scan each tree for one and then run there. James was content to enjoy the whole experience. Chloe was walking all over the place enjoying being free. She was dazzled by all the "pretty" trees and had a bard time not experiencing all the shiny things they had to offer! :)

Game On

Sam finally did it. He is now moved on from just working with his dad on the ice to being in the beginner's class. He is doing great. He went for the first time two weeks ago and did great. He has great coaches who work well with him. He is still adjusting to figure out who to watch and listen to and the fact that he has to stay out there the whole time and not come rest.
He is so proud of himself and we are so proud of him too.
(He's the one in blue, #10)


Scoring a Goal

Learning to Skate Backwards

Skating Drill

James of course isn't even a half a step behind. He is doing great and loving the time he gets with Dad all to himself.
(James is in orange, #8)